Higher Education and Urban Affairs. An Approach for Metropolitan Washington.

Jacobson, Elden

The paper is the keystone for a feasibility study of an extensive interuniversity program in Washington's inner city, and deals with ways in which effective use may be made of university-based resources to alleviate the massive, complex problems of urban life. The city is described as an ecosystem, containing large numbers of variables that interact with each other. Most traditional urban studies tend to treat each of these components as a self-contained activity and have proven to be inadequate. In the Washington metropolitan area, response to shifting complexities --such as race relations, urban planning, and the federal role within the District of Columbia-- has been largely self-contained, drawing only sporadically upon the competence of local academicians. One possible alternative to the single-purpose approach is the "urban observatory" and its "satellites." The observatory would have an interdisciplinary core of scholars who would collaborate on research priorities and give continuity and direction to the course of action required to fulfill the desired interuniversity commitment to the city. From the satellites, located throughout the metropolitan region, information would flow to the central observatory, and through them, research and educational programming would be directed into the community. (WM)